Chinese smartphone manufacturers continued their assault on market leader Samsung and Apple in the second quarter of the year.

Some 238.1m units shipped in Q2, an impressive 50% year-on-year increase. And while Samsung and Apple grew their shipments by 55% and 20% respectively to maintain first and second place, both lost share to Chinese vendors, according to global research firm Canalys.

Lenovo, Yulong and Korean vendor LG completed the top five vendors. Collectively, the five Chinese vendors shipping the most devices worldwide (Lenovo, Yulong, Huawei, ZTE and Xiaomi) made up 20% of the total market, up from less than 15% a year ago.

Apple's market share fell to its lowest level since Q1 2009, but its numbers were buoyed by the performance of its older models after a price cut.

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"The high end of the market continues to grow but there is no doubt that the explosive growth will come from the low end of the market," said Chris Jones, VP and principal analyst.

"Apple needs to respond to this dynamic and it is evident from the performance of its older models this quarter that there is real demand for a new low-cost iPhone. The challenge that it faces is maintaining high margins on arguably the most important products in its portfolio," he added.